WEEK OF THE FULL MOON
It was not a good week for some. Charlie Thompson had surgery for a new heart valve, but is recovering. Amanda was sick with an infection. And Ellie is without a driver’s licence at present. Best wishes from The Ram to all our members.
At our meeting Thursday night, I showed the other four who were present a recent issue of Woman’s World magazine that had a full 2 page article on Whistler. This is an American magazine, so I was surprised to see a Canadian destination in their travel section.
I read first, Chapter 49 of my novel. This is starting to wind things up and had all main characters together, tying up some loose ends and explaining some red herrings that had been placed in earlier chapters. Just 2 more chapters to go. I also read an article I had clipped from the Vancouver Sun, about Marjory Harris, a centenarian who has just published her 5th book. But she didn’t start writing till she was 90. Now that she’s losing her sight, she says she’ll dictate her next book into a tape recorder. No excuse for any of the rest of us now.
Elaine read next, an introspective poem about winter called “Mibahiah’s Song”. The name of this character refers to the angel of winter, and the poem ruminates on the quandary of how the seeming harshness of winter can also be beautiful and still bring with it the promise of spring because of this angel.
Margaret read her next Peabody chapter, “The Button Vanishes”. Peabody is getting ready to go to the cemetery, but then can’t find the brass button. He screams for Marie as he’s down on his hands and knees looking for it. She comes down in her nightdress and uses a term of endearment when asking what’s bothering him. She asks if Joey or Barker might have eaten it. Then she vacuums but still no button. She decides to pray for its return, but will also seek the help of a clairvoyant.
Carolann had written a children’s story, “The Toy Party”, which she read. A little girl goes to sleep, and while she’s sleeping her toys come out to play. It would be an enchanting story for children to hear.
Next meeting here at my place Thursday, January 31st at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then.
Lisa
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
THE REVIEW
RENEWAL
Sonny says if I’m going to post The Review on the blog site, then I have to start using more creative titles, preferably expressing some theme from each meeting. So, please help me with “theme-atics” each week because I really do find it easy to stay in the same old rut. Could really use some of John’s expertise with headlines here.
Thursday’s meeting was fantastic, with eight of us all eager to praise the Muse.
Bob read an article by Susan’s husband Chris, that appeared in the Canadian Geographic about the Trans Canada Highway ending at a dump in Newfoundland. Then he read more of his jewellery business history, telling about Flewwelling who started a factory in 1912 on West Hastings. One of their employees liked to hide a bottle of his favourite libation in the toilet tank so he could take a swig or two at regular intervals.
Margaret Florczak showed up after many, many months and I mistook her for someone else. I felt like such a dunce. My sincere apologies. Anyhow, Margaret is still taking English courses at SFU and had served on the editing board of their student journal. So, as both a writer and editor, she wrote a fascinating article called “Everything I Didn’t Want To Learn About Rejection . . .” She told of different types of rejection letters that writers receive, and also about the many different reasons for editors not accepting pieces of writing. We especially liked her skillful handling of both points of view.
Robin also attended on Thursday and brought a whimsical piece of prose called “Pendulum To Pizza”. He first spoke of Galileo and the pendulum of the clock, and then of a possible descendent in the Wild West, who learned to bake cakes while imprisoned and then later returned to Italy to bake pizza, in a leaning tower, no less.
Carolann read us her 32nd poem, called “Another Year”. It was in honour of her husband’s recent birthday after a year of ill health and by-pass surgery and recuperation.
Margaret Moffat read more of the Peabody saga. He is telling Peacock and Peasly about the button he bought from the gypsies. And he also tells them he wants to search for Laura Bell’s grave. He plans to take the coffin train from Necropolis Stn. To Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England, which was the world’s largest cemetery back then in 1935. Margaret also brought drawings she had made of the three Reverends. Amazing talent.
Ellie read some more of the girl who is betrothed, against her will, to Alvin. She bathes, and then dresses in beautiful clothes, aided by a maid who doesn’t speak to her. She is escorted to a dining room where Alvin awaits in the company of a young man. He introduces her to the young man, who is his nephew, to the nephew’s mother, and to a tall man in a hooded cloak. The latter is the Mage Solan, who has mesmerizing blue eyes.
Amanda had three items to read. The first piece was used on a card she gave to a friend who had just given birth to her fourth son. Entitled “Another Son”, it chronicles many things mothers of growing boys contend with and then asks her to treasure them as too soon the boys grow up and leave home. Her second reading included keen observations of mostly young people in a coffee shop, and these were very astute perceptions. And the third reading was a sensual and sensuous piece telling of a woman drinking wine at a party and her encounter with and then lingering desire for a man she meets.
I think it was Margaret Florczack who mentioned a contest for a short, short stories at the Writers’ Union of Canada. I don’t have any more information than that, but you can probably find more by looking up their website.
Next meeting will be here at my place on Thursday, January 24th at 7:00 p.m. Love to see you then. Happy writing to you all in the meantime.
Lisa
Sonny says if I’m going to post The Review on the blog site, then I have to start using more creative titles, preferably expressing some theme from each meeting. So, please help me with “theme-atics” each week because I really do find it easy to stay in the same old rut. Could really use some of John’s expertise with headlines here.
Thursday’s meeting was fantastic, with eight of us all eager to praise the Muse.
Bob read an article by Susan’s husband Chris, that appeared in the Canadian Geographic about the Trans Canada Highway ending at a dump in Newfoundland. Then he read more of his jewellery business history, telling about Flewwelling who started a factory in 1912 on West Hastings. One of their employees liked to hide a bottle of his favourite libation in the toilet tank so he could take a swig or two at regular intervals.
Margaret Florczak showed up after many, many months and I mistook her for someone else. I felt like such a dunce. My sincere apologies. Anyhow, Margaret is still taking English courses at SFU and had served on the editing board of their student journal. So, as both a writer and editor, she wrote a fascinating article called “Everything I Didn’t Want To Learn About Rejection . . .” She told of different types of rejection letters that writers receive, and also about the many different reasons for editors not accepting pieces of writing. We especially liked her skillful handling of both points of view.
Robin also attended on Thursday and brought a whimsical piece of prose called “Pendulum To Pizza”. He first spoke of Galileo and the pendulum of the clock, and then of a possible descendent in the Wild West, who learned to bake cakes while imprisoned and then later returned to Italy to bake pizza, in a leaning tower, no less.
Carolann read us her 32nd poem, called “Another Year”. It was in honour of her husband’s recent birthday after a year of ill health and by-pass surgery and recuperation.
Margaret Moffat read more of the Peabody saga. He is telling Peacock and Peasly about the button he bought from the gypsies. And he also tells them he wants to search for Laura Bell’s grave. He plans to take the coffin train from Necropolis Stn. To Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England, which was the world’s largest cemetery back then in 1935. Margaret also brought drawings she had made of the three Reverends. Amazing talent.
Ellie read some more of the girl who is betrothed, against her will, to Alvin. She bathes, and then dresses in beautiful clothes, aided by a maid who doesn’t speak to her. She is escorted to a dining room where Alvin awaits in the company of a young man. He introduces her to the young man, who is his nephew, to the nephew’s mother, and to a tall man in a hooded cloak. The latter is the Mage Solan, who has mesmerizing blue eyes.
Amanda had three items to read. The first piece was used on a card she gave to a friend who had just given birth to her fourth son. Entitled “Another Son”, it chronicles many things mothers of growing boys contend with and then asks her to treasure them as too soon the boys grow up and leave home. Her second reading included keen observations of mostly young people in a coffee shop, and these were very astute perceptions. And the third reading was a sensual and sensuous piece telling of a woman drinking wine at a party and her encounter with and then lingering desire for a man she meets.
I think it was Margaret Florczack who mentioned a contest for a short, short stories at the Writers’ Union of Canada. I don’t have any more information than that, but you can probably find more by looking up their website.
Next meeting will be here at my place on Thursday, January 24th at 7:00 p.m. Love to see you then. Happy writing to you all in the meantime.
Lisa
Saturday, January 12, 2008
THE RAM'S HEAD REVIEW
THE RAM’S HEAD REVIEW
January 12, 2008
Another year has dawned and empty pages beckon the Muse from its hibernation within us. Days are also getting longer and it’s time to rouse and let it be known “WE ARE WRITERS!”.
There were four of us here to read at Thursday’s meeting.
Bob started with a memoir, “Going Downtown” written in first person as the child who lived in Vancouver and experienced travelling downtown with his stepmother to have lunch, visit his Dad’s shop, visit the old Woodwards with its huge grocery floor and decorated windows, and to visit the PNE and watch the parade. Interesting depiction of another era in the life of Vancouver.
Margaret has started another on-going Peabody saga she calls “The Gypsy and The Button”. Peabody is alone one evening and visited by a Gypsy woman and her son who are selling odds and ends from a basket. The Rev. Peabody buys a brass button that looks familiar to him and phones his brother Mathew about it. (To be continued…)
Carolann read a piece that started as prose and ended in poetic form that she will read at the funeral of a neighbour who just recently passed away. Touching.
I read two letters. The first was from Nathaniel, in response to my query I had sent to an email address I found on a blog where he wrote about his writing and trying to find a publisher. We had no way of contacting him after he and his family left their home in Abbotsford last spring so it was wonderful to finally make contact again.
The second letter had been forward to me by Suan from a friend of theirs’ who decried the difficulty of finding a publisher for his two completed novels. In his research, he did learn that publishers of novels prefer writers have experience writing and getting short stories published first, before they will even think of putting into print a novel they have written. So he turned his hand to writing short stories, and much prefers them, and has had one accepted for publication by a Vancouver magazine. So there you have the other side of the story.
I then read Chapter 48 in my novel, which has Cam trying to staunch the flow of blood from Lucy’s stab wound, waiting for ambulance attendants to arrive. Their arrival coincides with that of two police officers who then start asking him questions in a threatening manner, but he is rescued when Tanner and his Mom arrive. He shows Tanner the journal Rick kept detailing the arson fires.
Carolann brought January’s issue of Senior Newsmagazine, in which she had one prose piece and one poem published. Also, two Christmas stories by Gemma were in the same issue. Our girls were on a roll!
Ellie was unable to attend as her son from Toronto was in town and she was having dinner with three of her four sons, always a special treat for her. Elaine emailed that it had been her birthday the day before and her children were coming to celebrate on Thursday, so she was unable to attend.
Next meeting will be here at my place on Thursday, January 17th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then whether you have writing of your own to read or not. It’s still important for us to support the ones who have written something, right? May communion with your Muse be long and deep, blessing or curse, as you so choose.
Lisa
January 12, 2008
Another year has dawned and empty pages beckon the Muse from its hibernation within us. Days are also getting longer and it’s time to rouse and let it be known “WE ARE WRITERS!”.
There were four of us here to read at Thursday’s meeting.
Bob started with a memoir, “Going Downtown” written in first person as the child who lived in Vancouver and experienced travelling downtown with his stepmother to have lunch, visit his Dad’s shop, visit the old Woodwards with its huge grocery floor and decorated windows, and to visit the PNE and watch the parade. Interesting depiction of another era in the life of Vancouver.
Margaret has started another on-going Peabody saga she calls “The Gypsy and The Button”. Peabody is alone one evening and visited by a Gypsy woman and her son who are selling odds and ends from a basket. The Rev. Peabody buys a brass button that looks familiar to him and phones his brother Mathew about it. (To be continued…)
Carolann read a piece that started as prose and ended in poetic form that she will read at the funeral of a neighbour who just recently passed away. Touching.
I read two letters. The first was from Nathaniel, in response to my query I had sent to an email address I found on a blog where he wrote about his writing and trying to find a publisher. We had no way of contacting him after he and his family left their home in Abbotsford last spring so it was wonderful to finally make contact again.
The second letter had been forward to me by Suan from a friend of theirs’ who decried the difficulty of finding a publisher for his two completed novels. In his research, he did learn that publishers of novels prefer writers have experience writing and getting short stories published first, before they will even think of putting into print a novel they have written. So he turned his hand to writing short stories, and much prefers them, and has had one accepted for publication by a Vancouver magazine. So there you have the other side of the story.
I then read Chapter 48 in my novel, which has Cam trying to staunch the flow of blood from Lucy’s stab wound, waiting for ambulance attendants to arrive. Their arrival coincides with that of two police officers who then start asking him questions in a threatening manner, but he is rescued when Tanner and his Mom arrive. He shows Tanner the journal Rick kept detailing the arson fires.
Carolann brought January’s issue of Senior Newsmagazine, in which she had one prose piece and one poem published. Also, two Christmas stories by Gemma were in the same issue. Our girls were on a roll!
Ellie was unable to attend as her son from Toronto was in town and she was having dinner with three of her four sons, always a special treat for her. Elaine emailed that it had been her birthday the day before and her children were coming to celebrate on Thursday, so she was unable to attend.
Next meeting will be here at my place on Thursday, January 17th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then whether you have writing of your own to read or not. It’s still important for us to support the ones who have written something, right? May communion with your Muse be long and deep, blessing or curse, as you so choose.
Lisa
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)